Ownership and Control

• In a nutshell


  The ownership of the mass media is concentrated in the hands of a few large companies, that have the ability to control what people have access to. It has been argued that the media have an ideological role to spread the dominant hegemonic ideology of the ruling class, which encourages individuals to accept the inequality of society, according to Marxists. However, pluralists argue media content is not driven by a dominant ideology, but instead is driven by consumer interest.
• Ownership of the media


  The ownership of the main mass media in Britain is concentrated in the hands of a few large companies. Bagdikian described the concentration of media ownership as the ‘Lords of the Global Village’, which has existed for over 25 years. These ‘Lords’ control every step in the information, creation and distribution process.
• The main features of media ownership include:


  Concentration of ownership.

  Vertical integration (concentration of ownership in a single medium (e.g. a film company that also owns the cinema chain).

  Horizontal integration (cross-media ownership - e.g. owns film companies, newspapers etc).

  Global ownership.

  Conglomeration and diversification (companies having wide variety of products besides the media - e.g. Virgin).
• The main features of media ownership include: pt. 2


  Synergy (media companies produce, promote and sell a product in a variety of forms - e.g. a film, soundtrack and video game for a superhero).

  Technological convergence (products are available in different forms that can be accessed on one device).
• CONTROL OF THE MEDIA AND ITS CONTENT - THE MANIPULATIVE / INSTRUMENTAL APPROACH


  Owners directly control and manipulate the content and audiences, to protect their profits and spread the dominant ideology. Media editors and managers have little choice but to run the media within the boundaries set by the owner. This approach sees audiences as passive - a mass of easily manipulated, unthinking and uncritical robots.

  Evans argues that media moguls such as Murdoch undermine editorial independence and press editorial staff to adopt the same right-wing, conservative views as the moguls.
• CONTROL OF THE MEDIA AND ITS CONTENT - THE HEGEMONIC APPROACH

  Though media owners are influential, they rarely control the media content, which is up to journalists. Therefore, staff have some independence, but still support the dominant ideology by choice, not because they are manipulated into doing so.

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  Media managers and journalists do not want to upset owners, but also need to attract audiences & advertisers.

  Journalist news values sometimes go against the dominant ideology, but this is to attract audiences and make profit.
• The Glasgow Media Group - Hegemonic Approach


  ​The GMG state that most journalists tend to be white, middle-class and male, therefore share the same views as the dominant class.

  The GMG explore 'agenda setting' & 'gatekeeping', which they believe is a process where some news is excluded, meaning that audiences have little choice of media, as products are produced with the dominant ideology.
• CONTROL OF THE MEDIA AND ITS CONTENT- THE PLURALIST APPROACH

  Media content is not driven by a dominant ideology or the political interests of owners, instead the fight for profit through high audience figures. There is a range of competing media platforms/products that reflect a range of audience interests/choices. The media is generally free of government intervention/ownership, and can present whatever viewpoint they want. Audiences are free to ‘pick & mix’ whatever interpretation suits them, with freedom to accept, reject/re-interpret media content in accordance with taste/belie